Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:37 pm
There were a few winners, but mostly losers at the CNBC Republican Presidential Debate.
Winners and Losers:
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Winners:
1). Marco Rubio – Jeb Bush tried to attack Rubio on his missed votes, and Rubio turned it into a dog whistle on media bias. Otherwise, Rubio was his same weak self, but if he keeps playing the Newt Gingrich blame the media card, he may get a bump in the polls.
2). John Kasich – Kasich sounded like the sane moderate Republican, which means that he had no chance in this debate. Calling Trump and Carson fantasy candidates probably won him the undying love of the Republican establishment, but he probably sealed his fate with voters by speaking out against the fantasy plans that Republican voters love.
3). Ben Carson – Do you remember anything that Ben Carson said during the debate? If not, it’s a win for Carson. The soft-spoken Republican continues to fly under the radar and build support by not attacking anyone, not saying anything, and remaining the anti-Trump.
4). Donald Trump – Trump wasn’t the center of attention in this debate. He also wasn’t the focus of any attacks. Trump didn’t do anything to hurt himself, and he was able to go toe to toe with establishment Republicans like Bush and Rubio. Trump looked more like a legitimate candidate, which is a big win for Trump.
Losers:
1). Jeb Bush – Bush tried to attack Rubio for ripping off the taxpayers and not showing up for work, but Rubio reversed it on him and attacked Bush while promising not to attack him. Bush needed a big debate, and he resorted mostly to his usual blaming of Obama and being invisible.
2). Rand Paul – Another Republican, who needed a good debate, was Rand Paul. Sen. Paul’s big moment was to announce that he is going to use the Senate floor as his personal infomercial with another fake filibuster beginning tomorrow.
3). Ted Cruz – Cruz’s rant against the media will get a lot of airplay, but he was piggybacking off of Rubio, and he wasn’t able to answer the question about his opposition to the bipartisan budget deal reflects on his lack of leadership.
4). Carly Fiorina – The Carly bump is a thing of the past. It turns out that without Planned Parenthood to lie about, Carly had nothing much to say.
5). Chris Christie – Chris Christie needs to go back to New Jersey. His campaign is going nowhere, and he needs to shut it down.
6). Mike Huckabee – Another end of the stage Republican, who really served no purpose, and had nothing to say. It isn’t 2008 anymore, and Huckabee is sucking up space on a debate stage where he doesn’t belong.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
